Mary Cooper – Reese Newshttp://reesenews.org
Just another RFDN Sites siteMon, 08 Dec 2014 22:27:42 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.3Runner registration lags behind for the Shamrock 'n' Run 5Khttp://reesenews.org/2012/01/30/runner-registration-lags-behind-for-the-shamrock-n-run-5k-but-the-committee-has-high-hopes/30606/
Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:31:24 +0000http://reesenews.org/?p=30606This Saturday, Kappa Delta sorority will host the 19th annual Shamrock ‘n’ Run 5K. As of Sunday night, 371 people were registered to run in the race. In order to be on track to match the $54,000 raised last year, the Shamrock committee must have 450 more runners register by Wednesday.

Hannah King, a senior and one of the four Shamrock chairs, explained that the race is occurring much earlier than in years past, which may explain the low number of registrants. “We luckily have this week to make a big recruiting push,” King said.

There are many events leading up to the race, including a benefit night at Sweet Frog on Franklin Street this Wednesday from 7 p.m. to close, a spaghetti eating contest in the pit with UNC Student Body President Mary Cooper, and a certified green “Pump-Up Pasta Dinner” at the Kappa Delta house on Franklin Street (across from the Morehead Planetarium) Friday night before the race.

To get involved, register to run or attend Shamrock event. For more information, email kdshamrocks@gmail.com.

]]>FixMyCampus opens direct line of communication between UNC students and student governmenthttp://reesenews.org/2012/01/24/fixmycampus-opens-direct-line-of-communication-between-unc-students-and-student-government/29775/
Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:24:15 +0000http://reesenews.org/?p=29775Do you have a question for student government? Now you can ask a representative yourself. Today is the kickoff of the FixMyCampus initiative, a part of Student Body President Mary Cooper’s undertaking to increase communication between students and student government.

Students can now send text messages, emails and tweets to student government. Representatives aim to be as responsive as possible by promising to respond to student questions and concerns within 24 hours of a request.

Ian Lee, former student body secretary, had the initiative in his platform against Cooper in the student body president election last year. Lee is optimistic, but says immediate feedback from the response team is crucial for the program’s success.

Former student body treasurer Dakota Williams is the manager of the program. Together, Williams, Cooper and other student government representatives are working to ensure that all students know about this new resource.

Student Body President Mary Cooper. Jacki Huntington/reesenews

]]>UNC president asks for 10 percent tuition increasehttp://reesenews.org/2012/01/14/former-bog-members-students-protest-tuition-increases/28973/
Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:47:38 +0000http://reesenews.org/?p=28973UNC-system President Tom Ross said Thursday that tuition increases should be less than 10 percent at the system’s university campuses.

Ross said he will send his formal recommendations to the system’s Board of Governors in the next few weeks.

The 17 universities system-wide have asked to raise tuition to make up for cuts in state education funding, including proposed increases of 15.6 percent for in-state students and 6.5 percent for out-of-state students at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Although Cooper was the only to vote against the plan, she was not the only dissenter. Protesting students lined the room with anti-increase signs and an alternate tuition proposal in hand, and board members quarreled about where the University could make needed expense cuts.

“There are things we’re doing that we shouldn’t be doing,” Trustee Alston Gardner said in the November meeting. “And in essence, the students and their parents are paying for them.”

In addition to Ross’ recommendation, opposition for the current proposals continues to gain momentum both at the Chapel Hill campus and from former system board members.

UNC-CH students marched on Thursday’s meeting after former UNC Board of Governors members signed a petition against the increases, which “will make these institutions inaccessible to many qualified young men and women and breach the moral and constitutional duties of our state to all of our citizens,” the petition said.

The Board of Governors is expected to vote on 2012-2013 tuition in February.

UNC administrators, trustees, faculty and staff voted Monday morning to increase undergraduate resident tuition by 15.6 percent for the upcoming year, strongly defending their decision to prioritize quality of education over cost in the face of ardent student opposition.

Trustees and administrators ultimately chose their plan after hearing a proposal from Student Body President Mary Cooper that would have kept costs lower for current students while implementing increases over time for incoming freshmen classes. Cooper said her plan would have made education more affordable for students already enrolled, but administrators ultimately decided it would have raised insufficient revenue for the upcoming year.

The proposal could change significantly by then, and could be altered even further when it reaches the UNC-system Board of Governors in the spring. But as it stands, for the 2012-13 fiscal year, the proposal would mean:

UNC-system schools were notified in October that they have been given license to consider a one-time unlimited tuition increase above and beyond the required 6.5 percent cap. The Board of Governors, which oversees the entire UNC-system, decided in 2006 to implement the cap in response to rapidly rising tuition rates.

Carney’s proposal includes a 6.5 percent increase for all students and a one-time additional increase of $2,800, added over a period of five years, to put UNC’s tuition more in line with those of its peer institutions.

But the group ultimately decided that Cooper’s plan would provide inadequate revenue for the upcoming year, create unacceptable differences among students (since freshmen would pay different rates from upperclassmen) and might not account for unforeseeable shifts in funding from the state legislature.

See a PDF of the numbers and rationale behind Cooper’s proposal here and her full presentation here.

“Mary, do you think there’s any recognition among the students that the contract has changed?” Lerner asked her.

Budgetary circumstances

Before the task force voted on a proposal, Thorp addressed the group, which was populated with student protesters and several video cameras, to tell them that UNC is facing unusually difficult financial times.

“Usually I don’t come to these meetings, but these are unusual circumstances,” he told the packed room. “But a proposal that gives us the opportunity to get some more revenue from tuition is the most prudent thing we can do.”

Because of a $20 million transfer of funds from the UNC Health Care System, the University has implemented only about $80 million of those $100 million in mandated cuts. However, in the upcoming year, administrators are not planning on that additional source of revenue and need to raise $20 million to avoid implementing the remaining cuts.

The approved proposal will provide about $15 million in revenue next year, while Cooper’s plan would provide only about $8 million.

Impact on students and the education model

At the close of the meeting, a member of the student protesters, Laurel Ashton, stopped the Trustees and administrators from leaving, beginning to cry and asking them if they had considered students like herself, who work part-time and take out loans to afford their educations.

“I don’t think you’ve ever thought about me in this meeting,” she said through her tears.

A significant part of the discussion on Monday centered on the relative burden imposed on students by increases, as compared to the benefit that money would provide in retaining faculty at the University and increasing courses.

However, this means that about half of the revenue produced from increases will go back to financial aid, and administrators will not be able to use it for any other priorities.

Hargrove said he is extremely concerned about the impact of increases on lower and middle-class students at UNC, noting that while he could afford to send his own children to more expensive schools like Wake Forest or Duke, as an undergraduate he paid his way through school.

But Shuping-Russell interrupted her, noting that the words were written at a time when the state legislature provided greater support for higher education, and was only funding one to three UNC schools, rather than 17.

]]>http://reesenews.org/2011/11/14/administrators-propose-15-6-percent-tuition-increase-for-resident-undergrads/27009/feed/1SBP Mary Cooper to hold forums on possible tuition hikeshttp://reesenews.org/2011/11/07/sbp-mary-cooper-to-hold-forums-on-possible-tuition-hikes/26221/
Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:13:03 +0000http://reesenews.org/?p=26221Tuition is a hot topic this year as the University deals with significant budget cuts. As we covered recently on reesenews, undergraduate in-state tuition at UNC could increase by more than 30 percent next year.

This issue has been a priority for UNC Student Body President Mary Cooper. The DTH said in an article last week that Cooper is caught between two opposing forces: students who say they cannot handle the financial burden of tuition hikes and administrators who say these increases are necessary to maintain the quality of education provided at UNC.

Cooper said in an editorial that her goal is to be an advocate for the student voice and urges students to make their voice heard.

The University’s tuition and fee advisory task force will decide on a tuition proposal to present to the Board of Trustees on November 14, which means Cooper has less than two weeks to craft her own proposal for the task force.

Throughout this week, Monday, November 7 to Friday, November 11, the Executive Branch of Student Government will sponsor tuition forums to get feedback from students.

The Executive Branch also offers to visit individual organizations to present a 15-minute presentation on tuition, the options available and implications involved.

Comments, thoughts, or questions regarding tuition can be sent to one of the Executive Branch officers at unctuition@gmail.com

]]>UNC students honor those affected by mental illnesshttp://reesenews.org/2011/10/05/unc-students-honor-those-affected-by-mental-illness/22016/
http://reesenews.org/2011/10/05/unc-students-honor-those-affected-by-mental-illness/22016/#commentsWed, 05 Oct 2011 16:52:59 +0000http://reesenews.org/?p=22016UNC students and two members of the North Carolina General Assembly gathered Tuesday night to honor those affected by mental illness with a candlelight vigil.

The vigil was organized by NAMI on Campus at UNC-Chapel Hill, an organization affiliated with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) that aims to provide mental health support, education and advocacy.

“Tonight we come together as a community to fight stigma and take mental illness out of the shadows,” said Peter Alfredson, a UNC sophomore and president of UNC’s NAMI on Campus.

At the core of the vigil was the idea of breaking down barriers and showing that those affected by mental illnesses are still normal people. Attendees lit candles to represent truth, healing, understanding, hope, thankfulness, faith, and steadfast love.

“Mental illness is a disease of the brain; it is not a spiritual disorder, it is not a willpower disorder, there’s not anything wrong with the person except they have a disease in the brain,” said Insko.

The speakers emphasized the damage done by our society’s stigma against mental illness, but also looked to advances in diagnostics and treatments as cause for hope.

“Mental illness has become more and more like diabetes or another chronic illness,” Insko said.

Even with medical advances, many people still go without help. In the case of Kinnaird, she said she suffered from severe depression for many years after the birth of her first child because “there was no one there who recognized it, and [she] didn’t recognize it.”

Insko emphasized the need for resources, praising the UNC Department of Psychiatry and its programs such as OASIS, a program serving adolescents and young adults experiencing or at risk of developing psychosis.

“It starts with actions that individuals can take but it also starts with actions that your organizations to take,” Cooper said.

College students are especially susceptible to mental illness, the speakers noted.

“There is a great deal of stress,” Kinnaird said. “And a lot of the very serious illnesses are onset at about the age of 19, particularly schizophrenia and bipolar.”

Alfredson had one final piece of advice: “If you know you have a problem, or you even think you have a problem, go get help.”

The vigil was held as part of the 2011 Mental Illness Awareness Week, which was established by Congress in 1990 and takes place annually during the first full week of October.

NAMI on Campus at UNC-Chapel Hill will also be hosting an event entitled In Our Own Voice: Personal Experiences with Mental Illness on Thursday, October 6th from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Student Union room 3206-B. The event will include talks by Marc Jaques, chair of the NAMI North Carolina Consumer Council, and Robert Bullock, an “In Our Own Voice” presenter.